Miners, Odisha govt agree on e-tender of mineral transport

The Odisha government today decided to introduce e-tender for truckers engaged in mineral transportation to bring transparency in the ore transport pricing.

It was decided at a meeting presided over by Odisha Chief Secretary GC Pati at state secretariat here. Mining lease holders and representatives from industries participated in the meeting.

As pricing for transport of minerals on trucks has not been standardised, transporters and truck unions were allegedly resorting to arbitrary pricing.

To put a check on such activities and streamline the pricing mechanism, the e-tender facility would be introduced through Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) for which a module would be developed within two months.

“We are going to introduce e-tendering facility for the engagement of transport agencies and truckers’ associations. We would develop a module through OMC. The module would pick the eligible transporters and truckers associations to be engaged in mineral transportation. Till the module comes into being, the district-level technical committee under the chairmanship of the district Collector would fix the prices. They would communicate this to the commercial transport department, which in turn would notify the maximum price of each consignment depending on the distance,” said Mines director Deepak Mohanty.

Meanwhile, a district-level technical committee headed by district Collector would be formed to determine the transport pricing. Collectors would submit their recommendations on pricing to the government within 15 days.

“We would come to know about the ground impact within one to two months after the implementation of the module. We welcome this step and we expect that it would bring transparency in the mineral transport system,” said East Zone Miners’ Association (EZMA) Secretary, Prabodh Mohanty.

Besides, provision for temporary registration for inter-state transporters from outside states would be made.